Recently I went to Puerto Penasco Mexico with my long time friend and brother in Christ Cam Syke for a little RnR and to visit an orphanage but we also ministered to whomever God would put in our path for whatever they needed. I was hungry to experience Him outside the four walls and especially in a foreign country so when Cam asked me to drive down there with him from Denver I gladly accepted the opportunity.
In order for you to understand why I was excited let me give you a little background. About 4 years ago some clients of mine kept asking me to go to a healing conference with them hosted by a ministry called Global Awakening. I didn’t really understand much about it but I trusted them. While at the conference I had a radical encounter with the Holy Spirit and I received the second baptism that the Apostle Paul talks about in Acts 19: 1-6. Not only did I have an encounter with the Holy Spirit that changed my life but I also witnessed some supernatural healings and I heard plenty of testimonies thereof. That raised my level of faith and I really wanted to see “more” so several months after the conference I asked a friend if they knew of anyone who needed prayer for cancer and I was referred to a young woman who had recently had a baby and was fighting stage 4 liver cancer.
One day while laying hands on her with my teenage daughter I was lead to ask her if I could put my hand on her liver, which was very firm and she said when we prayed she felt heat. From my brief training I knew that was a good thing and to summarize it she is alive today and still cancer free! Even though God can be unpredictable to our finite minds He is good, all the time.
Back to Mexico. We encountered several men who had permanent orthopedic injuries that left them crippled and so we faithfully went about “the laying on of hands” for their healing. I am crazy enough to believe that Matthew10:8 wasn’t just for the time of Jesus but applies to today as well. Jesus told the twelve to go tell the people that the Kingdom of God was at hand and to “heal the sick, cleanse the leper, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received feely give.”
Call it crazy faith, call it risky faith. It doesn’t matter, I was in Mexico and I believe. What a great place to practice. The cool thing was everyone was grateful for the attention and the possibility that Jesus could heal them right then and right there. Take Francisco for instance. He was the parking lot attendant at one of the local restaurants. When we met him after dinner one evening he was sitting outside the restaurant on a bucket with crutches in hand. He was the father of two young children and he had an accident that left him unable to put weight on his left ankle and leg. The Spirit of God was on me so we prayed and he felt it too. Don’t know for sure what God did (there was no visible or tangible miracle at that point) but I know that one day a Francisco will stand up and shout and drop his crutches and start dancing! I’ve seen it before and I’ve heard numerous testimonies about it so I believe it will happen again!
I have studied and listened to some of the great Evangelists/Pastors/Apostles of today talk about their experiences with healing. Not one of them was a consistent instant success. All had to press in for the prize and to this day they will tell you that God heals, not them. They just believed and they never gave up nor do they give in. Why? Because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8). He wants to have a relationship (beyond salvation) with anyone who hungers and thirsts for Him. So, whatever you are believing Him for today I want to encourage you that you are not alone. Find some likeminded people in the body who believe like you do and gather testimonies, share how God has spoken to you such as in dreams or “the small still voice” and of course always rely on Scripture as your guide. I believe that God will eventually come through for you as He did for my friend with the cancer. God is looking for people who will step out and take risk for Him. We are His hands and feet and his mouthpiece so to speak.
Next time I go on a trip with Cam I will be looking for opportunities for healing as we “walk about the cabin”. Just as every hockey fan knows you miss 100% of the shots that you don’t take and so it goes with the Kingdom. God is waiting for His sons and daughters to take the risk and step out and believe.
The mind expanding thing about believing for healing and seeing miracles is that it is only the beginning. What biblical basis do I have for that statement? My (NKJ’s) bible says in red “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do he will do also, and greater works than these he will do, because I go to my Father (John 14:12).”